An executable or executable file, in computer science, is a file whose contents are meant to be interpreted as a program by a computer.

Most often, it contains the binary representation of machine instructions of a specific processor (in which case the executable may also be referred to as a binary), but can also contain an intermediate form that will require the services of an interpreter to be run.

Whether a file is an executable or not is mostly a matter of convention; some operating systems designate executable files by specific naming convention (such as the name ending in a filename extension ".bin" or ".exe") or noted alongside the file in its metadata (such as the "execute" permission bits under Unix-like operating systems).

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NPR Topics: Technology

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